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Mayak, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union
The Mayak Production Association or Mayak nuclear facility (Russian: Производственное объединение «Маяк», from Маяк "lighthouse") is a industrial complex and a factory for the production of nuclear weapons components, isotopes, storage and recycling of spent nuclear fuel, which is one of the biggest nuclear facilities in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, one of the largest in the world, and the largest in the Soviet Union. It houses plutonium reactors and a reprocessing plant. Located 150 km south-east of the cities of Sverdlovsk and Yekaterinburg, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union between the towns of Kasli and Tatysh 72 km northwest of Chelyabinsk, the closest city to the nuclear complex is Ozyorsk, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union, the central administrative territorial district. As part of the Soviet nuclear weapon program, Mayak was formerly known as Chelyabinsk-40 and is today known as Chelyabinsk-65 after the postal codes of the site. In 1957, Mayak was the site of one of the worst nuclear accidents in history, Kyshtym disaster, when the explosion of a poorly maintained storage tank released 50-100 tonnes of high-level radioactive waste, contaminating a huge territory in the eastern Urals and causing numerous deaths and injuries from radiation poisoning. The Soviet regime kept this accident secret for about 30 years. The event was eventually rated at 7 on the seven-level INES scale, second in severity only to the Chernobyl disaster, and the third worst nuclear accident in history (the other two being the disaster at Chernobyl and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011). Working conditions at Mayak, and a lack of environmental responsibility in the past, led to additional contamination of the surrounding lake district and severe health hazards and accidents. Some areas are still under restricted access because of radiation. In the past 45 years, about 400,000 people in the region have been irradiated in one or more of the incidents. Mayak was a target of Gary Powers' Lockheed U-2 surveillance flight in May 1960. Since the late 1980s, Mayak has been cleared of radiation and has been the most modernized nuclear facility east of the Ural mountains during the reforms of Michail Gorbachev 1985-1991. Mayak still play an important key role in the production of plutonium for the Soviet nuclear industry. Activities Production Association "Mayak" is one of the largest Soviet centers for radioactive materials. Union stations, as well as processes of nuclear fuel from nuclear submarines and nuclear icebreaker fleet. These works are carried out in the four furnaces vitrification. Together with Rosatom is building two new furnaces. ... That would vitrify annually and lead to a safe state about 60 million curies of radioactive high-level waste. - Gennady Podtesov (Minister of radiation and environmental safety of the Chelyabinsk region) The company also produces the 1948 weapons-grade plutonium , the first reactor A-1 was launched on 19 May 1948 . In 2009, discussed the possibility of the transfer of production to the Siberian Chemical Combine , but in March 2010, "Rosatom" found it expedient. October 23, 2011 in the "Mayak" ended neutralization and recycling of bromine production , delivered by rail to the "Lighthouse" on Saturday night from the city of Chelyabinsk. With this request to the State Corporation Rosatom asked the city administration of Chelyabinsk region on the causes of the situation occurred at the main railway station of the city of Chelyabinsk September 1, 2011. Structure Production: reactor, radiochemical, chemical and metallurgical, radioisotope and instrument. Other: Management, Central Laboratory, the public power and telephone exchanges. Renaming ;1946 - 01/01/1967 Plant number 817 ;01.01.1967-31.12.1989 Chemical Plant "Mayak" of the Ministry of Medium Machine Building of the USSR (02.03.1965-27.06.1989) ;01.01.1990-11.04.2001 Production Association "Mayak" of the Ministry of Medium Machine Building of the USSR (02.03.1965-27.06.1989) of the Ministry of Atomic Energy and Industry of the USSR (27.06.1989-29.01.1992) ;11/04/2001 - present Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Production Association" Mayak "(FSUE" Lighthouse ") of the Ministry of Atomic Energy (29.01.1992-28.06.2004) of the Federal Atomic Energy Agency (28.06.2004-20.03.2008) of the State Atomic Energy Corporation "Rosatom" (from 20.03.2008) Famous people *Ovchinnikov, Fyodor Yakovlevich (1925-1994) - Hero of Socialist Labor , the first director of Novovoronezh , Deputy Minister of Power and Electrification of the USSR. The director of "Factory 156" (one of the reactor plant Mayak). 1954-1963. *Fedotov, Vladimir Ivanovich (1924-2011) - Hero of Socialist Labor , nuclear workers . Employee plant in 1949-1955. Nuclear history The Mayak plant was built in 1945–48, in a great hurry and in total secrecy, as part of the Soviet Union's Soviet atomic bomb project. The plant's original mission was to make, refine, and machine plutonium for weapons. Five nuclear reactors were built for this purpose. Later the plant came to specialize in reprocessing spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors, and plutonium from decommissioned weapons. Today the plant makes tritium and radioisotopes, but no plutonium. In recent years, proposals that the plant reprocess, for money, waste from foreign nuclear reactors have given rise to controversy. In the early years of its operation, the Mayak plant released quantities of radioactively contaminated water into several small lakes near the plant, and into the Techa river, whose waters ultimately flow into the Ob River. The downstream consequences of this radiation pollution have yet to be determined. Some residents of Ozyorsk, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union claim that living there poses no present-day risk, because of the decrease in the ambient radiation level over the past 50 years. They also report no problems with their health and the health of Mayak plant workers. However, these claims lack hard verification, and many who worked at the plant in 1950s and 1960s subsequently died of the effects of radiation. While the situation has since improved, the administration of the Mayak plant has been repeatedly criticized in recent years for environmentally unsound practices. Kyshtym disaster Main article: Kyshtym disaster Working conditions at Mayak resulted in severe health hazards and many accidents. The most notable accident occurred on 29 September 1957, when the failure of the cooling system for a tank storing tens of thousands of tons of dissolved nuclear waste resulted in a chemical (non-nuclear) explosion having an energy estimated at about 75 tons of TNT (310 gigajoules). This released 740 PBq (20 MCi) of fission products, of which 74 PBq (2 MCi) drifted off the site, creating a contaminated region of 15,000-20,000 km2 called the East Urals Radioactive trace. Subsequently, an estimated 49 to 55 people died of radiation-induced cancer, 66 were diagnosed with chronic radiation syndrome, 10,000 people were evacuated from their homes, and 470,000 people were exposed to radiation. This nuclear accident, the Soviet Union's worst before the Chernobyl disaster, is categorised as a level 7 "major accident" on the 0-7 International Nuclear Events Scale. When Zhores Medvedev exposed the disaster in a 1976 article in the New Scientist, some exaggerated claims were circulated in the absence of any verifiable information from the Soviet Union. People "grew hysterical with fear with the incidence of unknown 'mysterious' diseases breaking out. Victims were seen with skin 'sloughing off' their faces, hands and other exposed parts of their bodies." "Hundreds of square miles were left barren and unusable for decades and maybe centuries. Hundreds of people died, thousands were injured and surrounding areas were evacuated." Professor Leo Tumerman, former head of the Biophysics Laboratory at the Institute of Molecular Biology in Moscow, disclosed what he knew of the accident around the same time. Russian documents were gradually declassified from 1989 onward that show the true events were less severe than rumoured. According to Gyorgy, who invoked the Freedom of Information Act to open up the relevant Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) files, the CIA knew of the 1957 Mayak accident all along, but kept it secret to prevent adverse consequences for the fledgling USA nuclear industry. "Ralph Nader surmised that the information had not been released because of the reluctance of the CIA to highlight a nuclear accident in the USSR, that could cause concern among people living near nuclear facilities in the USA." Only in 1992, did the Russians officially acknowledge the accident. Emergency 1967 In the spring of 1967 as a result of the transfer of radionuclides dust from the dried shoreline of Lake Karachai (intermediate position of the discharge liquid waste) at the site of "Mayak" reappeared emergency. Due to the lack of control and low-water period of time after the 1962-1966 period the water level of Lake Karachai greatly decreased, thus revealing a few acres of lake bottom with radioactive materials. Radioactive substances activity 600 Ci, consisting mainly of particles of silt, scattered over a distance of 50 - 75 km, strengthening the area contaminated by the accident in 1957 precipitated a mixture containing mainly cesium-137 and strontium-90 . Radioactive trace coverage of 2,700 km 2 , including 63 settlements with a population of 41.5 thousand people. The absorbed dose from external exposure for 4800 residents of nearby areas was 1.3 cSv, for residents of the far zone - 0.7 cSv. Other accidents On 10 December 1968, the facility was experimenting with plutonium purification techniques. Two operators were using an "unfavorable geometry vessel in an improvised and unapproved operation as a temporary vessel for storing plutonium organic solution." In other words, the operators were decanting plutonium solutions into the wrong type of vessel. After most of the solution had been poured out, there was a flash of light, and heat. After the complex had been evacuated, the shift supervisor and radiation control supervisor re-entered the building. The shift supervisor then entered the room of the incident, caused another, larger nuclear reaction and irradiated himself with a deadly dose of radiation. The shift supervisor's actions are the subject of a Darwin Award nomination. The Mayak plant is associated with two other major nuclear accidents. The first occurred as a result of heavy rains causing Lake Karachay, a dried-up radioactively polluted lake (used as a dumping basin for Mayak's radioactive waste since 1951), to release radioactive material into surrounding waters. The second occurred in 1967 when wind spread dust from the bottom of Lake Karachay over parts of Ozyorsk, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union; over 400,000 people were irradiated. *In 1994, a fire resulted in a radioactive gas leak of 4% of the plant's allowed annual release. *In 2003, the plant's operating licence was revoked temporarily, due to liquid radioactive waste handling procedures resulting in waste being disposed into open water. *In June 2007, an accident involving a radioactive pulp occurred over a two-day period. *In October 2007, a valve failure during transport of a radioactive liquid resulted in spilling of a radioactive material. *In 2008, a repair worker was injured during a "pneumatic" incident, involving a quantity of alpha emitter release. The worker's hand was injured and the wound contaminated, with the worker's finger amputated to avoid further injury. History Major Incident "Mayak" c 1953 to 2000 *15/03/1953 - arose a self-sustaining chain reaction. Pereobluchen plant personnel; *13/10/1955 - rupture of process equipment and the destruction of the building. *04/21/1957 - SCR (spontaneous chain reaction) in the factory number 20 in the collection oxalate decantate after filtering sediment oxalate enriched uranium. Six people received doses of 300 to 1,000 rem (four women and two men), one woman died. *10/02/1958 G. - SCR plant. Conducted experiments to determine the critical mass of enriched uranium in a cylindrical container with different concentrations of uranium in solution. Staff broke the rules and instructions for working with YADM (nuclear fissile material). When SCR personnel received doses from 7600 to 13,000 rem. Three people died, one man got radiation sickness and blind. In the same year I. Kurchatov was made at the highest level and proved the need for establishment of a special state security units. Such an organization was LYAB . *28/07/1959 - breaking technological equipment. *12/05/1960 - SCR plant. Five people were pereoblucheny. *26.02.1962 - an explosion in the sorption column, destruction of equipment. *09/07/1962 - SCR. *16.12.1965 city - SCR in the factory number 20 lasted 14 hours. *10.12.1968 city - SCR. Plutonium solution was poured into a cylindrical container with dangerous geometry. One person died, another took a high dose of radiation and radiation sickness, after which he was amputated two legs and right arm. *11/02/1976 at the radiochemical plant from unsafe actions of staff development was an autocatalytic reaction of concentrated nitric acid and organic liquid complex composition. The device exploded, there was contamination of premises repair zone and areas around the plant. Index score INEC-3. *10/02/1984, the - the explosion in the vacuum equipment of the reactor. *16/11/1990 - explosive reaction in the tanks with the reagent. Two people received burns and one was killed. *07/17/1993 Mr. - Accident on radioisotope plant "Mayak" the destruction of the sorption column and release into the environment of small α-aerosols. Radiation emission was localized at the manufacturing facility of the shop. *08/02/1993 Mr. - Accident line issue of the pulp from the plant to treat liquid waste incident associated with the depressurization of the pipeline and hit 2 m 3 of radioactive slurry to the surface of the earth (polluted about 100 m 2 surface). Depressurization of the pipeline led to leak to the surface of the pulp radioactive activity of about 0.3 Ci. Radioactive trace was localized, contaminated soil removed. *12/27/1993 incident on radioisotope plant where the replacement filter were released into the atmosphere of radioactive aerosols. Emissions are on the α-activity of 0.033 Ci, by β-activity of 0.36 mCi. *04/02/1994 recorded increased release of radioactive aerosols: the β-activity of 2-day levels of 137Cs subsistence levels, the total activity of 7.15 mCi. *30/03/1994 transition recorded excess daily release of 137Cs in 3, β-activity - 1,7, α-activity - by 1.9 times. *In May 1994 the ventilation system of the building of the plant spewed activity 10.4 mCi β-aerosols. Emission of 137Cs was 83% of the control level. *07.07.1994 on the control plant detected radioactive spot area of several square decimeters. Exposure dose was 500 mR / s. The spot was formed by leaking sewage from muted. *31.08. 1994 registered an increased release of radionuclides to the atmospheric pipe building reprocessing plant (238.8 mCi, with the share of 137Cs was 4.36% of the annual emission limit of this radionuclide). The reason for the release of radionuclides was depressurization of VVER-440 fuel elements during the operation segments idle all SFA (spent fuel assemblies) as a result of an uncontrollable arc. *24/03/1995 recorded excess of 19% of normal loading apparatus plutonium, which can be regarded as a dangerous nuclear incident. *15.09.1995 on the stove vitrification of high-level liquid radioactive waste (LRW) was found to flow of cooling water. Operation of the furnace into the regulatory regime has been discontinued. *21/12/1995 at cutting thermometric channel exposure occurred four workers (1.69, 0.59, 0.45, 0.34 rem). The reason for the incident - a violation of the company's employees process procedures. *07/24/1995 aerosols spewed 137Cs, the value of which amounted to 0.27% of the annual value of MPE for the enterprise. The reason - the fire filter cloth. *14/09/1995 at replacement covers and lubrication step manipulators registered a sharp increase air pollution α-nuclides. *10/22/96 depressurization occurred coil cooling water from one storage tanks of high-level waste. The result was contaminated pipe cooling system repositories. As a result of this incident, 10 people were branches of the radiation exposure of 2,23 × 10 -3 to 4,8 × 10 -2 Sv. *11/20/96 at chemical-metallurgical plant in the works on the electrical exhaust fan came aerosol release of radionuclides into the atmosphere, which made up 10% of the allowed annual emissions of the plant. *27/08/97, in the building RT-1 in one of the rooms was found to be contaminated floor area of 1 to 2 m 2 , the dose rate of gamma radiation from the spot was between 40 to 200 mR / s. *6/10/97 recorded increasing radioactivity in the assembly building, the RT-1. Measurement of the exposure dose demonstrated by up to 300 mR / s. *09/23/98 at lifting power of the reactor, P-2 ("Lyudmila") after firing automatic protection allowable power level was exceeded by 10%. As a result, the three channels of the fuel rod seal failure occurred, resulting in the contamination of equipment and pipelines of the first circuit. 133He content in the release from the reactor within 10 days of exceeding the annual allowable limit. *09/09/2000 failure occurs on the "Mayak" power for 1.5 hours, which could lead to a crash. During the test in 2005, prosecutors found a violation of the rules for handling environmentally hazardous waste production in the period 2001-2004, which led to the discharge into the Techa River basin several million cubic meters of liquid radioactive waste "Mayak". According to the deputy head of the Prosecutor General of Russia in the Urals Federal District, Andrey Potapov, "found that the plant dam, which has long been in need of renovation, passes into the reservoir liquid radioactive waste, which poses a serious threat to the environment, not only in the Chelyabinsk region, but also in neighboring regions. " According to prosecutors, because of the plant's "Lighthouse" in the floodplain of the Techa River in the four years the level of radionuclides has increased several times. As demonstrated by examination, the area of infection was 200 kilometers. In hazardous area is home to about 12 thousand people. The investigator said that they are being pressured in connection with the investigation. Director General of "Mayak" Vitaly Sadovnikov was charged under Article 246 of the Criminal Code "violation of environmental regulations in the operations" and Parts 1 and 2 of Article 247 of the Criminal Code "Violation of the rules for handling hazardous materials and waste". In 2006 criminal case against Sadovnikova was terminated in connection with an amnesty for the 100th anniversary of the State Duma. Techa River - a river polluted by radioactive waste discharged chemical plant "Mayak", located in the Chelyabinsk region . On the banks of the radioactivity is exceeded many times. From 1946 to 1956, discharges of medium-and high-level liquid waste "Mayak" was carried out in an open river system Techa-Iset-Tobol 6 km from the source of the River Techa. All over the years has been reset 76 million m 3 of wastewater with a total activity by β-radiation over 2,750,000 Key. Inhabitants of coastal villages were both external exposure and internal. Total radiation exposure were 124 thousand people living in the villages on the river banks of the water system. The greatest people of the coast were exposed Techa River (28.1 thousand). About 7.5 thousand people displaced from the 20 settlements, received average effective equivalent dose in the range of 3 - 170 cSv. Later in the upper part of the river was built cascade reservoirs. Most (in activity) of liquid radioactive waste dumped in the lake. Karachai (reservoir 9) and "old swamp." Flood plain and sediments polluted silt in the upper part of the river are considered as solid radioactive waste. Ground water in the Lake. Karachay and Techa reservoirs contaminated. The accident at the "Mayak" in 1957 , also called "Kyshtym tragedy" , is the third-scale disaster in the history of nuclear power after the Chernobyl disaster and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (on the INES scale ). The issue of radioactive contamination of the Chelyabinsk region was raised repeatedly, but because of the strategic importance of the chemical works every time no attention. Background radiation Rosatom said that despite the presence of a nuclear facility, the background in the immediate locality , the Ozersk , 5 times lower than, for example, in Chelyabinsk, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union, Sverdlovsk, Yekaterinburg, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union and Leningrad. Category:Nuclear power plants in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union Category:Industrial complexes in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union Category:Energy of the Soviet Union Category:Nuclear power in the Soviet Union Category:Mayak, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union